Rug.



F. M. ETHRIDGE.

RUG.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29. 19:8.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

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FREDERICK M. ETHRIDGE, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RUG. i

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

Application filed July 29, 1918. Serial No. 247,126.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK. M. RIDGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rugs, of whlch the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a floor rug having a non-fibrous outer surface made from plastic material, such as the well known linoleum mixture. The invention relates especlally t0 so-called linoleum and congoleum rugs of relatively large sizes. Such rugs are deficient in tensile strength as compared w th textile fabric rugs, and for this reason are not adapted to be suspended vertically and displayed on a hanger engaging the upper edge of the rug. A hanger or rack used for vertically suspending and displayinga textile fabric rug usually includes a horizontal elevated rod or bar having spurs which penetrate the upper edge of the suspended rug and thus engage and support the rug. A. linoleum or congoleum rug impaled on such spurs is liable to be torn from the spurs by the weight of the rug. Moreover, the holes made by the spurs in a rug of this character are permanent and would disfigure the rug after its removal from the hanger. It, is customary therefore, to display linoleum and congo eum rugs horizontally, a number of rugs being piled one above another on a floor. It is often necessary to displace one or more of the upper rugs, to expose a suitable portion of a lower rug. This removal involves the bending or partial folding of the displaced rug or rugs and often causes their upper surfaces to crack.

My invention has for its object to enable a rug to which the invention relates to be vertically suspended from one edge, without.

' injury to the rug.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing therug suspended from a hanger.

Fig. 3 is an edge view illustrating the operation of stripping the extension hereinafter described from the rug.

Fig. 1 is a section on line -il-l of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing a modification. Y

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

In the drawings, 12 represents a rug having a non-fibrous outer surface, the rug being, for example, an ordinary linoleum or congoleum rug, and bearing a suitable design nits outer surface.

In carrying out my invention, I apply to one edge portion of one of the sides of the rug, preferably the back side, a cementitious bonding1 material which is adherent to the rug, an may be any suitable glue or cement. The bonding material is interposed between the rug and a hanger-engaging extension adherent to the bonding material, and united by the latter to the rug, the bonding material being rupturable to permit the stripping from the rug, of the hanger-engaging extension, after the latter has performed its function.

The hanger-engaging extension is preferably embodied in a strip 13 of textile fabric, such as duck or canvas of greater tensile strength than the rug. Said strip is of suificient width to provide an attached portion engaged with a layer 14 of bonding material contacting with an edge portion of the back of the rug, and a free portion projecting from the rug and forming a tab adapted to be penetrated by and impaled onspurs 15 attached to a horizontal rod or bar 16. Said rod is supported in an elevated position above a floor so that the rug may hang vertically from the hanger formed by the rod and spurs.

After the rug thus displayed has been sold and removed from the hanger, the hangerengaging extension is stripped from the rug, the bonding material being rupturable by force tending to pull the extension away from the rug, as indicated by Fig. 3. The portion of the rug to which the bonding material adheres may be roughened or corrugated, as shown by Fig. 4, to strengthen the union between said portion and the bonding material. While I prefer to apply the bonding material and hanger-engaging extension to only the back of the rug, as shown by Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the same may be applied to a portion of the back and a portion of the front or outer surface of the rug,

as shown by Fig. 5, the hanger-engag ng ex-' tension being folded to overlap portions of each side of the rug.

It will be seen that a rug and an extension attached thereto as described, constitute an improved article of manufacture, adapted to be suspended and displayed without injury to the body of the rug, and that said body does not difier in appearance from an ordinary rug after the removal of the extension.

I claim:

1. A rug formed of a material having a tensile strength incapable of supporting the weight of the rug when suspended from penetrating prongs, said material also being of a nature which will be permanently injured by such prongs, and a hanger having one edge provided with an extension detachably engaging the edge of the rug with sufficient tenacity to sustain the weight of'the rug, said hanger being formed of a material capable of withstanding the strains imposed by the weight of the rug when suspended from enetrating prongs.

2. rug formed of a material having a tensile strength incapable of supporting theweight of the rug when suspended from penetrating prongs, said material also being of a nature which will'be permanently 'injured by such prongs, a hangerformed of a material capable of withstanding the strains imposed by the weight of the rug when suspended from penetrating prongs, and a cement detachably uniting one edge of said hanger with said rug, said cement being of suflicient tenacity to sustain thevw'eight of the rug.

3. A rug having its top surface formed of a nonfibrous plastic material incapable of supporting the ,.weight of the rug when suspended from penetrating prongs and of a nature which will be permanently injured by engagement with such prongs, and a hanger of textile material having an extension detachably engaging one edge of the rug with sufiicient tenacity to sustain the weight of the rug, said textile material having sufficient tensile strength to withstand the strains imposed by the weight of the-rug when suspended from penetrating prongs.

4. A rug having its top surface formed of a nonfibrous material incapable of supporting the weight of the rug when suspended from penetrating prongs and of a nature,

FREDERICK M. ETHRIDGE.

have affixed my 

